


turned to instinct, all my thoughts

by Mainly_Bridget



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Werewolf Promposal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 01:58:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18790708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mainly_Bridget/pseuds/Mainly_Bridget
Summary: Beta's seemed fine with asking pretty girls out to prom, but the prospect was too daunting for a lycanthrope on suppressants.Ben Solo takes a chance one morning with his wolf for a little extra courage.





	turned to instinct, all my thoughts

Ben’s hand wavered over his morning meds.

If he took them, it was over. It, being his dreams for prom.

Rey was nigh unapproachable as it was - her sunny disposition and the fascinating curve of her cheek haunting him every waking moment. With all those rehearsed speeches in his bathroom mirror you’d think he could handle a simple question but…  
He leaned forward to rest his head against that same mirror, tired of looking at his bed head and prominent ears.

Whenever they spoke, his words twisted.

It was fear, pure cowardice. And if the reddit threads he’d consulted were right, a side-effect of his meds. Shutting down his wolf broke him of more than just aggression and impulsiveness. It was choking out his sense of self on every level.

Lycanthropy had been a semi-curable disease for years, depending on who you asked. Ben, teenage werewolf, could never meet the gaze of the doctors and teachers who’d said so.

And today... today he needed his wolf.

So fuck the meds. He could handle one full day of his own biology.

The screen door rattled behind him as he left to catch the bus, a waxing moon fading into the morning light.

~~~

“Ben, are you okay?”

Ben blinked, letting his eyes focus back on Poe’s face as they lingered along the paved courtyard in front of their high school. His friend looked somewhere between concerned and impressed.

“Yeah, I’m fine. What, why?”

Poe shook his head, pupils wide. “You just stopped traffic when you crossed the lot. Mitaka probably wet himself.”

Ben glowered. Nobody risked using that crosswalk, unwilling to risk their lives with the punk drivers careening to the student parking lot. But how fucked was that? Why hadn’t anyone put their foot down? Maybe slamming his bag and fist into the hood of Mitaka's car had been...overkill. Ben couldn't bring himself to regret it, all the same.

What if Rey had been crossing? And one of those idiots had come through? People could say werewolves were reckless, but _he'd_ never risk hurting his pack that way.

“Somebody has to show those asshole’s there’s a limit—”

A glow seemed to emanate from behind Poe. The warm hue was distracting, intoxicating. Ben leaned to the side, energized by his own distinct lack of subtlety.

A brunette, her stance wide like a fighter, laughing at something one of her friends had said. _Rey._

Ben felt his muscles go lax, his feet carrying him around Poe and toward the school doors as though in a daze. He'd seen her in this courtyard every morning since the snow melted, each time feeling a pang of jealousy that she could laugh like that - unafraid, unreserved. Now though— her light felt like a welcome.

Ben brushed past Poe, striding towards her.

“Ben? Ben!” Poe’s voice was muffled from behind.

"Rey." Ben's voice sounded low in his own ears, almost making him pause. Her hair chestnut hair, tied back into buns along the curve of her head, bobbed as she whipped around to face him. Ben watched as his hand reached out, perplexed at the weightlessness of his own movement.

Rey’s full gaze met his, her cheeks growing rosy at the force of her smile. His hand faltered at the last moment, control slipping back into place.

“Ben! Hi! Listen I was meaning to ask you if you got through the problems Mr. Skywalker assigned for AP Chem, I got stuck and could really use a better teacher right about now—”

Ben felt each of his vertebrae vibrate with electricity. Was this… pride? It smoldered under his skin, leaving his hands hot and damp. Not clammy, like before. Sanguine and alive. “Will you go to prom with me, Rey?”

Her hazel eyes went wide, shining with an intense glimmer. He heard her lungs freeze, could hear her heart pounding in her throat. Something both floral and musty tickled his nose, and if he could just get closer maybe he’d be able to name it—

“Oh…” She looked down and then away, her face flushing prettily. “Yes, sure. I guess.”

Yes. _Yes._

Ben flexed his hands, heat flooding through his arms instead of resting in his palms. His own heart began to race where before it had stilled, prepared for a more difficult hunt.

“...Really?” His voice was soft, tentative. Almost as soon as he said it, Ben wished he could take it back. Wished he could turn around and return to Poe, as though her answer had been one of many important things to do today. Her hand curved around his wrist. Ben rested his eyes on the tentative connection.

“Yes. But... Just so I...not at friends, right?”

Ben felt his throat prickle, his ribcage expand.

Yesterday he would have panicked. He could hear the response his stupid beta brain would have thrown out, _of course as friends, you are so not my type—_

Today, courage was pounding in his veins.

“ _Definitely. Not. As Friends._ ” The words chaffed from his lips, almost a growl. Her grip on his arm was broken as Ben reached instead for her waist with one hand, the nape of her neck with the other.

“Oh—” Rey only had time to let out the short burst of sound before his lips mets hers, at first facing even, prim pressure before her jaw dropped to expose a tender welcome. Ben’s heart howled in satisfaction as her hands, previously fluttering in surprise, cupped his biceps and pulled him closer. Those nimble fingers he’d watched endlessly in trigonometry and study hall wove along his scalp, tickling nerves he’d long forgotten.

He could forget everything as he sank into that kiss, the warm slide of her tongue, the sweet whimpers from her throat.

Until her fingers found his ears.

Triangular, black-furred, lupine ears.

Fuck fuck fuck.

He pulled back, panicked. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He’d just skipped one dose, the web had said it would just give him back a _little_ wolf, not fully risk--

Shit. Rey was staring at him, fingers still rubbing his fucking wolf-ears with a look of wonder across her freckled face. Ben waited, knowing the fear would come.

“Are my eyes—?”

“Your pupils are so tiny, your iris just turned, like, white—”

“Fuck. Shit.”

She hadn’t let go. Why hadn’t she let go?

The sounds of panic and low voices of authority slid into Ben's freshly sensitized ears, and Poe… Poe was shouting. A warning. Two men grabbed Ben from behind, their arms encased in thick black jackets and gold security emblems.

He’d violated code, come to school unsuppressed.

If health class had been honest, he’d be fighting them off with a vengeance now. He was supposed to be a complete monster off the meds. He was supposed to be unsafe, unstable.

But Rey’s taste was still on his tongue. And her eyes still met his, a smile twisting her lips. His hunt was successful.

“I’ll pick you up at seven, then,” he said, shouting to cover the rapidly growing distance between them.

“It’s a date!” Rey shouted back.

“It’s a date,” he mumbled to himself.

The security guard grunted. “Kids these days.”

**Author's Note:**

> Posting this drabble in honor of Violet Wilson - you told me to be the fic I wanted to see in the world. Challenge accepted.
> 
> Thanks for reading! If anyone's shopping for beta's, DM me on Twitter. @Mainly_Bridget.
> 
> PSA, don't go to reddit for your medical questions?


End file.
